Red Tomato-Garlic Soup

This low-calorie side dish soup is so much healthier and tastier than a canned tomato soup. And it takes just 15 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

1 medium fennel bulb with tops

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced

10 garlic, minced

1 28 -ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 14 -ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 8 -ounce can tomato sauce

1 cup hot-style vegetable juice or vegetable juice

1 teaspoon dried basil or dried Italian seasoning, crushed

Directions

Reserve some of the fennel leaves to garnish the soup. Remove any tough or bruised outer leaves from the fennel bulb. Trim off the root end and the stems; discard. Thoroughly rinse the trimmed bulb and quarter the bulb lengthwise; remove and discard the core. Chop remaining fennel bulb.

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add fennel, onion, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 25 minutes, or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes more or until unions are golden.